


Living A Nightmare

by soclosebutyetsofar



Series: 9-1-1 Lone Star Week 2020 [7]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Gun Violence, Hurt Main Character, M/M, Robbery, wrong time and place
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:08:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24094837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soclosebutyetsofar/pseuds/soclosebutyetsofar
Summary: Last but not least: Day 7 of 9-1-1 Lone Star Week!TK and Carlos go shopping together when they get caught in the middle of a robbery. Things take a turn for the worse.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Series: 9-1-1 Lone Star Week 2020 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1729090
Comments: 3
Kudos: 161
Collections: 9-1-1 Lone Star Week





	Living A Nightmare

**Author's Note:**

> This is it, last day of 9-1-1 Lone Star Week 2020! Can't believe it's already over. Time does fly when you have something to look forward to!
> 
> Theme was "Anything goes", Prompt "Be free, be brave. Anything you want goes."  
> This fic is a bit darker. 
> 
> Also this one is unbeta'ed. I might upload a corrected version in a couple of days, but I hope this doesn't impact you reading experience.
> 
> CW for gun violence. If you are easily triggered by someone being the victim of gun violence, proceed with caution please!!

“Can you explain to me again why we need to go to this specific shop?” TK whines when Carlos pulls into the parking lot of a small corner shop.

“We’re here because they’re the only ones who have this special marinada I need to cook you my surprise dinner.” He explains for what must be the fourth time today. TK sometimes wonders where he takes all his patience from. He’s aware that Carlos doesn’t have it easy with him. Not only because TK likes to complain from time to time but also because it took him a long time to fully trust Carlos. Before and even after they got together. Now, finally, they’re in a good place. No, that isn’t entirely true. They’re in a freaking amazing place. They’ve been dating for over a year now and spending time with his boyfriend is the best part of his week. He’s always very eager to see him once he gets off a shift. Part of the reason is, that Carlos likes to spoil him. TK can’t deny that he likes it (maybe a little too much). Which is also the reason why he indulges Carlos driving them to three different shops, so he can get all the ingredients for the dinner he wants to cook for them. Knowing Carlos’ cooking skills, it’ll be worth the trouble.

“Do you want to stay in the car or do you want to come with me?” Carlos asks. TK contemplates for a moment. He’s tempted to stay in the camaro. But he’ll be able to chill out later when Carlos is cooking. Plus, he really can’t let his boyfriend to do _all_ the work. And seeing as Carlos sure as hell won’t let him help with the cooking, he might as well come shopping with him. 

“Yeah, I’m coming” he replies and gets out of the car. On the way to the door of the shop, Carlos grabs his hand, interlaces their fingers and brings their joined hands to his mouth. He then proceeds to press a featherlight kiss to TK’s knuckles. Butterflies erupt in TK’s stomach. He looks over at his boyfriend who smiles back at him when he drops their linked hands. Damn, his boyfriend is gorgeous. He’s so lucky to call him his. Carlos lets go of his hand as they step into the shop. TK trails after him not really paying attention to his surroundings. He’s got no clue what they’re looking for so he’s the first to look up when the bells chime again, indicating that someone else has entered the shop. A man dressed in black with a machine gun in his hand enters the shop and heads for the cash desk. TK goes stock still but reaches out and grabs onto Carlos forearm.

“Carlos” he whispers. “Please tell me you got your gun on you”

“What?” Carlos head snaps up, looking at TK in confusion but then follows his gaze, when he realises that TK isn’t looking at him. “Shit” he curses. “No, I don’t have it. It’s in my gun safe back home.”

“What do we do now?” TK asks. He’s barely able to keep his voice from shaking. The shock of being shot sits too deep still, even though it’s been over a year now. 

“You wait here and call the police, alright?” Carlos instructs quietly and inches his way towards the front of the shop. 

“No!” TK whisper-shouts. “There’s no way I let you go near this person and a gun”, he argues and tightens his hold on Carlos’ arm.

“I don’t think that he has seen us yet. This can be our advantage to overpower him. By surprise.” Carlos explains but TK doesn’t care. He tightens his hold.

“No.”

“TK, I’m a cop, I know what I’m doing, I’ve been trained for situations like these.”

“Yes, when you ambush from _outside_ the shop with _dozens of your colleagues_ next to you” He never hears Carlos’ reply, because the next things he’s aware of is the gunman stepping around the shelf and facing them. They both lift their hands over their head instinctively.

“I knew I heard something.” He says it more to himself then them. He points his gun at them or rather at Carlos because his boyfriend has stepped in front of him. 

“What were you planning, huh? Did you want to surprise me?” The gun sways dangerously. It’s obvious he doesn’t know how to handle it properly and that something about him is off. Most probably drugs, TK thinks, which isn’t helping them at all.

“Sir, if you drop the gun now and stop this, I promise that I’ll help you with the charges. I’m a cop.” TK wants to hit Carlos. Not only because he’s shielding him, like TK’s weak and needs protection, but also because he offers the information about his job so freely. Most assailants don’t like cops interrupting their work, even if said cops are off duty.

“Cop, huh? Can’t have you interrupting this gig.” The man raises the gun he lowered momentarily. Nobody moves for a few seconds.

“What’s your name, Sir?” Carlos asks, making a minuscule step towards the other person. 

“Don’t move!” he shouts. “And don’t think for a second that I’ll tell you my name” he adds hissing.

“Alright, Sir. I won’t, but please let me help you. I can call my colleagues and they’ll come here and get you. But when you cooperate with us, I promise I’ll convince the judge to give you a lesser sentence. Just let me help you. Nobody has to get hurt today.” When the robber doesn’t answer, Carlos makes a small step forward, but it turns out that this has been the wrong decision. 

A shot rings through the air. At first TK things the man missed because nothing happens, but then Carlos collapses to the ground. TK grabs his biceps, but because it happens so suddenly, he can’t catch his boyfriend’s fall and is pulled to the ground as well. He lands on his knees beside him. Dark red blood spreads on Carlos’ chest soaking his shirt. He grunts in pain. 

“NO! Oh my god, Carlos.” TK mumbles. He can hear the panic in his voice. Their gazes meet and from the shocked and pained expression on his boyfriend’s face, TK realises suddenly that this is real. Carlos has been shot. He goes hot and cold at the realization.

“No…, no, no, no!” he repeats all over while pressing his hands to the wound. Blood floods over his fingers rapidly. He gulps, trying to suppress the tears that threaten to fall. A noise to his right distracts him momentarily and he looks up just to meet the gunman’s eyes. They look at them in a frantic motion.

“Fuck, I didn’t mean to shoot him. I… he’s a cop and … fuck!” he exclaims and TK can see panic filling him.

“He tried to help you!” TK shouts the first thing that comes to his mind. The assailant just stares at them, before he turns around and flees. TK can only stare after him. When he’s left the shop, the cashier comes running around the corner. He stops looking at them in horror. 

“Call 9-1-1, tell them there’s an officer down, GSW to the chest, possible injury of the lung, rupture of a major artery.” he rattles off, barely even recognizing his voice. “Do you have a first aid kid?” he asks after the man makes the call. The shop owner looks at him. He’s probably still in shock. Then he shakes his head.

“No, last one was out of date. I meant to replace it a couple of weeks ago, but I forgot” his eyes widen in horror.

“Then get me some blankets or towels, anything to help quell the bleeding!” TK says before he turns his attention back to Carlos. 

“It’s going to be okay, love.” he whispers wanting to stroke Carlos’ face but his hands are too bloody and are occupied with pressing on the wound anyway.

“T… K” Carlos forces out. Then he starts coughing blood. The alarm bells in his head get louder. From his EMT certification he did a couple of years back and from being confronted with GSWs like this on the job, he knows that this is a very bad sign.

“NO. You’re going to be fine. I just found you. I’m not ready to let you go. Not no, not ever. Stay with me, Carlos. Please. I love you.” he pleads. Desperation’s clouding his voice. He doesn’t sound like himself anymore.

Suddenly two towels dangle in front of his eyes.

“These are the only ones I could find. I’m sorry.” TK grabs them and places on below Carlos’ neck to form a provisory pillow. He uses the other to press it to the bleeding wound. TK can feel the shop owner hovering next to him. Not being capable of handling the man in that moment, he sends him away.

“Go to the street and look out for the ambulance and police. Guide them here!” he instructs. The man leaves and TK sighs in relief. He looks down at his boyfriend.

“Love you...” Carlos whispers. It’s barely audible. His breath has gone shallow and there’s a rattling accompanying it. _Fuck!_ He tries to focus on Carlos and the wound he’s still pressing the towel to. It’s already soaked through. Carlos has lost too much blood already. TK’s vision goes blurry and there’s a constant throbbing behind his temples. 

“Carlos, baby, I need you to stay with me, yeah? Until the paramedics come and we can get you to the hospital.” He doesn’t get a reply, so he looks up from where his gaze was fixed on the wound and looks at Carlos’ face. His eyes are closed.

“No, Carlos, open your eyes, baby please!” His eyes flutter. TK can tell that he’s struggling to open them fully.

“Show me your eyes, sweetheart. I love your eyes so much, it’s such a warm brown.” He babbles trying to keep calm for his boyfriend’s sake. Carlos tries once again and their gazes meet for the fragment of a second but then they close again. His breathing gets even slower and shallower, until he takes one last breath before it stops completely. TK’s heart misses a beat, his breath caught in his throat before the lack of oxygen forces him to draw in some air. 

“Oh my god, no, please no” he checks Carlos’ pulse but there is none. TK starts doing CPR immediately, but it only pumps the blood out of Carlos’ body even quicker. So he stops it again. TK’s breath comes out in short puffs, but ultimately oxygen is still pumped into his lungs and veins. He wishes it wouldn’t though, because the reality of what just happened hits him with the force of a high-speed train. The love of his life just died and all he can think is, that it’s his fault. People always say that the world stops spinning but that isn’t the case. It keeps turning, going on and on, but the more it does, the more time passes in which TK’s alive and Carlos isn’t. And that just can’t be right.

“Carlos!” he shouts and throws himself on top of Carlos’ body. Sob wreck his body, the pain in his chest almost unbearable. In the distance he can hear sirens. But they’re only confirming what he already knows deep down: his boyfriend is dead. “No. No, no, no” he sobs. “CAR-”

* * *

“-LOS!!” TK shoots up into a sitting position. Sweat is running down his temples as well as his back and he’s panting for air. There’s a tightness in his chest that makes breathing difficult. Panic claws at him, the remnants of his dream burned into the back of his eyelids, he can’t escape it, the scene’s playing in a loop. His breath comes out in short puffs, his heart is racing and beating so heavily, he can literally feel it in his ears. When he lifts a hand to rub over his face TK realises that his cheeks are wet from crying. His head whips around but the space next to him is empty. His panic spikes to a new level. TK feels his throat tighten up and a whimper leaving his mouth. He places his hand next to him on the mattress but it’s cold. Nobody’s been laying there for a while. 

Just then he hears steps coming from the bathroom. A shadow is the first thing he sees.

“TK?” a familiar voice asks. Before he knows it, TK’s out of bed and stumbles over to the figure standing in the door to the en-suite bathroom. He throws himself into the person’s arms, arms around their neck and buries his face under the person’s jaw inhaling their familiar scent.

“TK? Cariño, what’s up?” Carlos asks stumbling a bit with the impact of TK’s weight barrelling into him, but he manages to stay standing. The hold of the arms around him tighten. But TK only breathes in the familiar scent of his boyfriend’s aftershave and clings to him even harder. He wraps his legs around Carlos’ waist trusting his boyfriend to take on his whole weight. He must look ridiculous, but he couldn’t care less. The only thing that matters is that they’re both here, that they’re both safe and alive. TK takes a deep, shuddering breath that sounds unstable even to his own ears. Tears start leaking from his eyes again.

“Don’t go to work today, please. Stay here in bed with me.” he whispers wrecked, not letting go. He can feel fingers rubbing over his back in a soothing manner. 

“Where’s this coming from? You know I can’t do that, baby. I have to go to work.” Carlos replies apologetically.

“No, please. Say you’re sick and you got the flu, or food poisoning, I don’t really care. Just please don’t leave me.” TK sobs. He doesn’t really care that he sounds pathetic. The most important thing is that Carlos is alive and well and that he stays that.

“What’s the matter, cariño? Did you have a nightmare?” Carlos asks and walks them over to the bed. He sits them down, TK effectively in his lap now. He claws his fingers into Carlos’ uniform to hold on even tighter and only manages a whimper in response that may resemble a yes with a lot of imagination.

“Hey” his boyfriend says softly. A hand comes up and cups his head. Fingers thread through his hair and massage his scalp. “You’re okay now. I’m here. No one’s hurt. I’m alright and so are you.” 

“Can you keep talking to me please?”

“What do you want to hear?”

“Anything. Just keep talking. I want to hear your voice.” TK says.

“Alright, I can do that, I guess. Um, let me think of something.” Carlos replies. He keeps stroking TK’s head. He’s grateful because it helps calm him down. “Right, I’ve got something. You do remember my sister Verónica, right? So a couple of weeks ago she was at Walmart’s and…” Carlos continued to tell him one of the most pointless and most boring stories TK has ever heard. But he’s grateful and appreciates what Carlos is doing for him. This is exactly what he needs right now. His boyfriend, of course, knows that. He’s the best at comforting him and is one of the two people who can calm him down so efficiently. TK slowly lets go and leans back a little so he can look into Carlos’ eyes. They’re a warm chocolate brown at the moment. The colour TK begged to see just one more time in his dream from a few minutes ago. 

Carlos cups his face in his hands. His thumbs are gathering up the rest of the tears that were spilled on his cheeks. He smiles tentatively at him as if to make sure that this doesn’t upset him further. TK looks at him somberly. Carlos knits his eyebrows in what TK guesses is worry. He reaches out and runs a thumb over them to smooth them. He doesn’t want to upset Carlos any further, because it’s enough if one of them is in a dark mood. He has to say one more thing, though, TK decides.

“Please don’t ever leave me.” He whispers. Technically, he knows that Carlos can’t make that promise. Not only because of the hazards of his job or because no human can ever make such a promise, but because he also doesn’t know what the future holds in store for them. Carlos expression gentles at the conflict that shows in TK’s face.

“I’m here for the long haul, cariño. You’d have to beg me to leave you. I’d never do it voluntarily.” The thought warms TK’s chest. He smiles, leans in and places a gentle kiss on his boyfriend’s lips. It’s short and not intended to lead to anything else, but it’s just what TK needs at the moment. And Carlos knows because he peppers TK’s jaw with smaller kisses before pulling him against himself once again. TK’s basking in the warmth of his boyfriend that seeps through his uniform. Which reminds him…

“Carlos?”

“Yes, cariño?”

“Can you please not go to work today? I have a really bad feeling and…” he stops because he doesn’t trust himself to continue talking without breaking down. Carlos sighs deeply but TK know he’ll do it.

“Fine, give me a few”. He climbs off of Carlos’ lap. Carlos goes to retrieve his phone from the living room and TK follows him. He isn’t letting him out of his sight today. Carlos makes the call faking coughs and a hoarse throat. He hangs up a couple of seconds later.

“All right, I’m off for the next two days. God, this feels weird. It’s the first time I called in sick since starting the academy.”

“I’m sorry but _thank you._ ” TK apologizes looking at his bare feet.

“Don’t be, TK.” he replies and steps into his boyfriend’s space. Carlos uses a hand to stroke a strand of hair from his forehead.

“Come to bed with me?” TK asks and takes on hand in his.

“Yeah” he follows TK into the bedroom shredding out of his uniform. TK, who has already laid down again, sits up and pulls Carlos down next to him. Once they’re settled on the bed with TK’s head on Carlos’ shoulder and one leg as well as one arm thrown over his boyfriend, he sighs contentedly. He can’t relax just yet but he’s laying as close as possible to his living boyfriend on their bed and gets to hold him. _That’s a start_ , he thinks as he presses a kiss to the pulse point in Carlos’ neck. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading and sticking with my fics through the week.  
> Feedback, suggestions for improvement are always welcome! ;)
> 
> I'm on Tumblr, same handle :D


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